The End Of The World. Again.

This article is me, exploring the concept of the end of the world, in general. It is not a criticism of whatever your beliefs are. I am a Roman Catholic. I am a Christian. This is not personal, please don’t try to make it so.

Generally, I can be quite patient. I’ve learnt to be more patient as I’ve grown older. I would not be as patient if I followed the predictions of people in the 1st Century who said that the Second Coming would be happening ‘any day now’. My short attention span simply wouldn’t permit me to wait that long.

Recently, I watched “How The World Ends” on Netflix. Whether you are a conspiracy theorist or anti-conspiracy advocate, you will definitely have some new things to talk about over cocktails or coffee.

Is it a comet? Is it a giant tidal wave? Is it a global famine? Disease? A nuclear strike?
Did the dinosaurs ever have to deal with such anxiety when pondering their own fate? Are humans simply programmed to expect the absolute worst? Just how pessimistic is the human race? Or, delusional.

According to Wikipedia, there have been nearly 200 apocalyptic predictions in the history of the world up to 2017, obviously none of these were realised. For followers of the Gregorian Calendar, that averages one prediction for every 100 years. Now, I may worry unnecessarily about a great deal of things but this heightened anxiety that occurs once-in-a-lifetime is not something I am going to worry about. If you are sympathetic to “The Great Disappointment” of the late 1800’s don’t despair, there are a number of upcoming end of the world’s still to diarise.

2020 – Jeane Dixon claimed that Armageddon would take place in 2020, and Jesus will return to defeat the unholy trinity of the Antichrist, Satan, and the False prophet between 2020 and 2037. She had also previously predicted the world would end on February 4, 1962.

2021 – F. Kenton Beshore bases his prediction on the prior suggestion that Jesus would return in 1988, i.e., within one Biblical generation (40 years) of the founding of Israel in 1948. Beshore argues that the prediction was correct, but that the definition of a Biblical generation was incorrect and was actually 70–80 years, placing the Second Coming of Jesus between 2018 and 2028 and the Rapture by 2021 at the latest.

2026 – Messiah Foundation International members predict that the world will end in 2026, when an asteroid would collide with Earth in accordance with Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi’s predictions in The Religion of God. The chances are only 1 out of 300,000.

2060 – According to Isaac Newton’s research of the Bible, Jesus will rapture his Church one jubilee from the time of Israel re-acquiring Jerusalem.

2129 – According to abjad interpretation of a hadith, Said Nursî, a Sunni Muslim theologian who wrote the Risale-i Nur Collection, which expects the end in 2129.

2239 – According to an opinion on the Talmud in mainstream Orthodox Judaism, the Messiah will come within 6000 years from the creation of Adam, and the world could possibly be destroyed 1000 years later. This would put the beginning of the period of desolation in the year 2239 CE and the end of the period of desolation in the year 3239 CE.

2280 – According to Rashad Khalifa’s research on the Quran, the world will end during that year.

11120 – According to John A. Leslie’s figures for the doomsday argument, the last humans will be born within the next 9120 years.

[Information extracted from Wikipedia]

Whether it is the Book of Daniel, the Book of Revelations or the last incarnation of Vishnu – the end of days is mentioned in some form or other in all religions. But, it’s not only Religious groups and Fundamentalists who have a say in our final moment; scientists have also lined up ten dates for us to consider. The earliest scientific end of the world is scheduled for 500,000 years from now. You can still go ahead and enjoy this weekend with peace of mind.

The potential of nuclear war has never been greater than now. Mankind has been living in the atomic age since the middle of the last century. Are we just so afraid of the world we have created that we have a collective need to escape it all? Is it Hope or Hopelessness that fuels these predictions? I’m not judging, just curious.

Another question I have is whether all the modern prophets have given away all their worldly goods yet as they clearly must know there won’t be a need for them, soon… Is this not a great opportunity for some non-profit to leverage for fundraising purposes? This is not tongue-in-cheek; this really could alleviate a lot of aid challenges in present time.

Then, what quality of life can you live if you are physically practicing for the worst case scenario every. single. day? It would be great to meet someone who would be open to explain their daily routine to me in this regard.

Why is it that we are so obsessed with the What-If’s that we lose sight of the importance of Right Now?

There are 3 groups of doomsayers – the Preparers, the Activators and the Controllers.Preparers are readying themselves according to whatever fundamentalist beliefs they follow.Activators are proactively trying to bring forward the date of the end of the world by whatever means they believe they can. This group has far less patience than I do.Controllers are those who are self-appointed anarchists to ensure that the end of the world happens just as they believe it should be.

I wonder what Harold Campling is thinking in his after-life. His prediction date of 2011 and all the campaign hype created must have been a huge letdown for him and his Family Radio followers. How do you console yourself after making such a bold statement that doesn’t materialise.
I also think about Monte Juda and how he has dealt with his failed prediction in 1970. 47 years later is a very long time to have to dwell on a failed prediction.

Has ego overtaken any human need for introspective and reevaluation of beliefs or theories? Looking at the list of historical predictions, most of the ‘prophets’ never left this world as quietly or gracefully as they could have. Could they not have just taken a moment to ask “what if we are wrong?” instead of following through with very tragic mass suicides?

I do have an opinion on all of this.
Everything anyone believes is subject to how that person interprets information presented to them; we then formulate our views based on our own view of the world. Even though we are part of family units, every family member has their own interpretation of the collective family experience. Fundamentalists (regardless of their affiliation) are not an anomaly, they are a sign of the times.
Times are tough indeed.

Published by Mother

I once rode a unicorn all the way past Jupiter
But when I returned
With stardust
I found myself sleeping
In a warm bed next to the fireplace
At a lodge in Nairobi.
It felt so much like a dream.
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